Strings To Hold Me Down
by Pennan Inque
Summary: Kurt and Kitty are called back to the mansion from their honeymoon in order to help piece together the mystery behind everyone's strange behavior. Mainly KURTTY pairing, but others too. 4 years in the future and funny. R&R, you'll love it. Pen-name changed
1. Chapter 1

**Hiya! I'm back (not that I was gone or anything) with a new KURTTY story! This just came to me out of the blue and I was like :O ! Brilliant!  
This story isn't a drabble, it's for real -though I'll be honest, I have no idea how long it will end up. I only just started it. **

**Anyway, fun little fact that might clear some things up for the first part of this story: This takes place about four years into the future (Kitty is 19 instead of 15 and Kurt is 20 I believe) **

**Also, it references the KURTTY two-shot I just finished, ****_The Bravest of Us All_****.  
I suggest you read it.**

**Enjoy**

Katherine "Kitty" Pryde stepped out of the steamy bathroom and into the main area of her hotel room with a fluffy towel around her torso and her wet hair dripping down her shoulders. She cast a glance towards her bed in which her husband peacefully slept, smiling slightly to herself as his quiet snores reached her ears. She crept past him with ease, the carpet muting her footsteps as she made her way to her suitcase. She rifled through the contents until she settled on a pair of underwear. She began slipping them on when...

"Vhy do you vear zose, Katzchen?"

Kitty looked up to find her husband, Kurt Wagner, lazily propped up on his elbows, looking at her blearily. His bare chest and drowsy expression were sexy and tempting and his voice was deep with sleep. "You look better vithout zem."

Kitty wrenched her focus off her alluring husband and onto dressing. "It's the proper thing to do. Clothing is sort of mandatory in public, you know. That," she said, tossing the blue elf on the bed a teasing, reprimand via her eyes, "and I didn't want you pouncing on me every ten minutes."

Kurt smirked. "I vas sinking _every_ minute."

Kitty shook her head as she pulled her arms through the sleeves of a blouse.

Kurt yawned. "Vhat time is it?"

"A little after ten. I let you sleep in, so we've got to hustle if we're going to meet the others by noon."

With a _bamf_ and a puff of smoke, Kurt appeared behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her as he balanced on his toes. He nuzzled her neck. "You let me sleep in?"

"Hmm," Kitty hummed in the affirmative, leaning into Kurt's strong embrace. "I thought you'd like some extra sleep after last night."

"But if you had voken me up earlier, ve could have repeated last night," Kurt whispered in Kitty's ear seductively.

She shivered. "Then we would have gotten no sleep at all."

"Vhat's vrong vith zat?"

"We have an almost two hour drive! Which reminds me-" one of Kurt's shirts smacked him in the face. He took the tee in hand and shot a playful glare at his wife. She smirked, her eyes gleaming mischievously. "Get dressed. We leave in fifteen minutes."

Kurt grumbled a bit, but pulled the shirt on. He stifled a yawn as he continued to clothe himself. "I'm so drowsy. You could have at least gotten me up vhen you vent to shower. Vould have given me a chance to vake up."

"Oh please," Kitty said, grabbing a brush to comb through her tangled, damp hair. "If I had, you would have watched."

"Vhat can I say?" Kurt shrugged, a goofy grin plastered on his face. "Old habits die hard."

"Do you want me to beat you up again?" Kitty warned.

"Nein, nein," Kurt said quickly, anxious to appease his wife and avoid a thrashing like the one he received years ago when Kitty had first found out he peeked on her while she showered. He then murmured under his breath as he added, "I just don't see ze problem vith a man admiring his vife's body."

"Under normal circumstances, there is no problem when the two are _married_," she sent Kurt a glare to which he sheepily and guiltily blushed. "However, we're going to be late as it is, so you should be doing something productive rather than watching me shower."

"Who said zat vasn't productive," Kurt mumbled.

Kitty shook her head and finished packing. "Let's go. I'm excited to see the others."

XXXXX

Kurt pulled the rented, yellow Camaro into the clearing, turning the car off and removing the keys before hopping out and rushing to the passenger side to let his wife out. Kitty smiled as she took her husband's offered hand and stepped out of the car. No matter what anyone said, chivalry was _not_ dead. "Thanks."

"No problem, Katzchen," Kurt grinned before scanning the dead, wheat field where they stood. "Vhere are vhey?" he checked his watch. "It's von o'clock."

"They must be running late due to turbulence or something. I'm sure they'll be along soon."

"Ja, you're probably right. I'll get ze luggage." Kurt circled the Camaro, stopping in front of the trunk. He ran a three-fingered hand over the cold, canary, steel metal. "I'm going to miss zis car."

Kitty leaned back on the hood. "We've only had it for two weeks."

"I know," Kurt said as he brought out their suitcases. "I just have never got to drive a Camaro before. It's wunderbar."

Kitty deflected her husband's puppy eyes. "We are not buying one."

"Vhy not?" Kurt whined, pouting.

"We have enough vehicles at our disposal."

"Ja, but ve don't _own_ anyzing."

"Because we don't have the money." Kitty spotted a black dot in the sky too big for a bird. "I think that's them!"

"About time!" Kurt joined his wife as she straightened, grinning like a Cheshire cat. The dark speck drew nearer at an almost alarming pace had the couple not been used to the speed, rapidly getting bigger and bigger until the grand silhouette of the Blackbird contrasted with the fluffy, white clouds and clear, blue sky. The engines rumbled, turning from a meager growl into an impressive roar as it soared above the clearing. The air from the propellers batted Kurt and Kitty's hair around as the X-Jet landed. There was a lull in which the machine whined as it powered down and the two X-Men waited. Finally the entry door lowered to reveal four, fully uniformed mutants.

Kitty didn't wait for them to descend the ramp and made a beeline for plane. The four had reached the bottom by the time she got there and nearly tackled the tall redhead. "Jean!" she cried exuberantly, latching her arms around her friend's neck.

The woman laughed good-naturedly as she returned the hug. "It's good to see you too, Kitty. How was your honeymoon?"

"Great!" Kitty beamed, releasing Jean Grey-Summers from the embrace. She turned to the man next to Jean, her husband. "Hey, Scott!"

"Hi, Kitty," he smiled, his eyes still hidden behind his sunglasses. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks. How are you?"

"I'm alright. Sorry we cut your vacation short."

"It's alright," Kitty brushed off. "Kurt and I were practically itching for some action."

"Vell, a _different_ kind of action anyvays," Kurt said with a smirk as he _bamf_ed beside his wife. "Gutentag, Scott."

"Hey, man," Scott grinned, catching Kurt's hand in his for a bro-hug. "Good to have you back."

"Good to be back. Ah! Gutentag, Frau Storm."

The tallest woman of the party nodded at Kurt in acknowledgment, her white hair dancing around her face. "Hello, Nightcrawler. I trust you enjoyed your honeymoon."

"Boy, did I," Kurt smiled roguishly at his wife.

"Hey now, elf," the largest mutant growled in forewarning, "we don't need to hear your perverted comments about you and half-pint's sex life. It's disturbing enough you two got married."

"Sorry, herr Volverine. Vhen you have a vife like Keetty, sometimes it's hard to keep sings to yourself. You just vant to share your happiness vith ze world."

"Yeah, well, just keep it in your pants, okay? You're still both kids to me. I don't want to walk into you two making out, got it?"

"Ja, I got it."

Kitty stifled a laugh and ventured over to rescue her husband. "Lay off a little, Mr. Logan. You're making my fuzzy elf sad."

"Just giving him a warning –one that applies to you too, missy. No PDA. I can't handle it."

"Aww, Mr. Logan!" Kitty giggled and hugged her mentor. "I missed you too!"

Wolverine was taken aback and uncomfortable with the display of affection before conceding with a grunt to pat the girl's back awkwardly.

Ororo smiled. "Why don't we continue the reunion on the Blackbird? The professor's waiting for us back at the mansion."

"Vhat about ze rental?"

"The professor said he'd take care of it. Now we should go before we draw any more attention to ourselves. Kurt, do you need any help with your bags?"

"Nein, I got it." Kurt teleported away, grabbed the luggage, bid a quick farewell to the precious Camaro and reappeared within three seconds. "But sanks for asking."

**There it is. I hope you liked it. **

_**I'm working on a number of stories right now, so if you really love this story, REVIEW it and tell me so. Otherwise, it will get lost in my other projects. **_


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who favorited and/or follow this story. That's very kind.**

**However, WORDS of encouragement are even better. I appreciate the ONE review I DID recieve, but like I said before, if I don't hear that this story interests people, ****_I WILL STOP WRITING IT AND FOCUS ON OTHER STORIES. _**

**Please keep that in mind.**

**Anyway, this chapter has ACTION in it and the plot line is introduced! WOO!**

**Enjoy!**

They settled into the X-Jet with Wolverine and Storm in the pilots' seats, Kitty and Jean in the left seats and Kurt and Scott in the right –an arrangement created by Logan in order to reduce the (as the students were calling it) 'Kurtty' interactions.

The guys relaxed, reclining their chairs as they listened to the girls chatter.

"It was amazing! We went to Rialto Bridge, the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain and we even went for a gondola ride through the canals of Venice. Kurt almost fell in!" Kitty said, giggling.

Jean smiled. "It sounds like your days were pretty restless."

Kurt cast them a naughty grin. "The nights were pretty restless too."

Wolverine growled. Kitty quickly changed the topic. "But as amazing as Italy was, Kurt and I really missed X-Men-ing. We were kind happy you called. But the professor wasn't very specific when he said he needed us back. What's going on?"

Jean and Scott shared a look that Kitty interpreted as _definitely not good_. "Well," Jean began, hesitant, "we aren't really sure. There hasn't really been any trouble per se, but people have been acting… weird."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Veird? Vhat do you mean?"

"There have been these reports," Scott said, "of people having bouts of strange behavior. For example, there was one from a mother, saying that her daughter had stolen a camera from a store. She claims the daughter to be a saint and that she would never have taken the camera, but the police found it all on surveillance. When they questioned the girl, she said she didn't remember anything."

"Maybe she vas lying."

Scott shook his head. "They gave her a polygraph test. She was telling the truth."

Kitty frowned. "That _is_ weird. You think a mutant is doing this?"

Jean nodded. "That's what the professor seemed to think. That's why he wanted you two back. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Do you know who or where they are? What their power is?" Kitty asked.

The Summers shook their heads.

"Hasn't Cerebro picked up anything?"

"That's the most disturbing part," Storm said over her shoulder. "Whenever Xavier attempts to use Cerebro, the system backfires and he is shut out. Normally he only looses consciousness, but there have been a few instances in which his memory is affected as well."

"That's awful!" Kitty exclaimed, rightfully upset.

"Yes, and that's not all," she said, looking pointedly at Jean. The redhead shifted uncomfortably.

Kitty caught the exchange. "What?"

Jean sighed. "It doesn't just happen when the professor uses Cerebro. He and I have tried reading the minds of the victims with the same results. We're blocked out. We black out. I never remember what happened before hand while the memory loss only periodically affects the professor. My powers still aren't powerful enough…"

Scott unbuckled and made his way to his wife as tears began welling in her eyes. He crouched beside her, taking her hands in his and speaking softly. "Hey, we talked about this. You're not weak, Jean." He ran his fingers through her hair, then brought them to brush her cheek. She offered him a sad smile as a tear slid down her face.

"Here, Scott." Kitty unbuckled her seatbelt and stood, letting Scott take her spot as he comforted Jean. Shadowcat watched in concern.

Suddenly the interior warning lights flashed and the warning sirens blared. The passengers' hands flew to their ears.

"Vhat is that?" Kurt roared above the alarms.

"We got trouble!" Wolverine bellowed, jerking the yoke –and the jet- hard right.

Kitty (being the only one not buckled to her seat) lost her footing and crashed into the wall. "Ouch! Hey, Mr. Logan! Maybe a little warning next time?"

"Sorry, half-pint, but we've got a rogue military plane on our tail!"

"What?" Scott yelled.

"Just like I said, kid! We've got an F-35 Lightning II following and firing at us."

"Firing?" Kitty asked. She stood on an empty seat and phased her head through the roof. "I don't hear any gunsho- WHOA!" a volley of bullets flew straight for her head. Kitty waited for the pain and inevitable end of her life but instead felt a sharp yank on her wrist.

She flopped safely on a chair and within a millisecond her husband's furious yellow eyes bored into her own. "Don't be so reckless! You couldn't hear ze shots because of ze sirens! Use your head! You could have died!" he shouted.

Kitty sunk into her seat. "I'm sorry."

Kurt exhaled, letting his head drop to his wife's shoulder. "Never do zat again. I sought I vas going to lose you."

"I'm sorry," Kitty said again, wrapping her arms around Kurt's neck. "I'll be more careful."

"Good. Now buckle yourself back in quickly."

"Right," Kitty said, smiling slightly, reaching for the seatbelt. Before she could fasten it, there was an explosion and Blackbird jolted. Kitty stumbled once more, tumbling to the floor. The smell of smoke wafted into her nostrils; the smoke choking and stale as opposed to Kurt's sweet, porting sulfur.

"We've been hit!" Storm yelled. "Jean, try to contact the pilot! Get him to stop attacking us! Cyclops, see if you can do something about the damage we just took. See if it's fixable and/or threatening! Nightcrawler, if Jean fails to convince the pilot to cease fire, you're going to have to take over!"

"Roger!" Kurt saluted and the Summers nodded their heads. Scott gave Jean a peck on the lips before he disappeared to the engine room.

Jean pressed her fingers to her temples as she reached out to the pilot's mind. She managed to locate the man's subconscious but was met with darkness. The gloom seemed to seep from the pilot's mind and infect Jean, black shadows closing in upon her as consciousness slipped away.

"Jean?" Kitty asked, leaning down to check on her friend as she wavered. Jean's eyes opened to stare at Shadowcat with an empty gaze. "Jean?" Kitty asked again, concerned and unnerved at the lifeless, green gaze. It was as if someone else was watching her through Jean. Suddenly the redhead's eyelids fluttered and she slumped forward, unconscious in a forced sleep.

An explosion rocked the X-Jet as Kitty stood to hover over Jean, blowing a hunk of black metal off the side to reveal the blue sky and Westchester County landscape bellow. Shadowcat's boots left the floor of the Blackbird as it jerked. She flew toward the hole in the plane, the air sucking her out like a piece of dirt into a vacuum.

"Keetty!" Kurt yelled in panic. Acting on adrenaline and instinct alone, he quickly _bamf_ed to the hole, latching onto the jagged edges with his hands, feet and tail, effectively blocking his wife's fall. Rather than tumbling out of the X-Jet, Kitty hit his chest with momentum . Kurt grunted, but managed to stay in position.

"Thanks, Fuzzy!" She beamed, truly grateful. Then, careful not to displace herself again, she took a small step toward the center of the jet and phased her foot into the metal. She repeated the process until she was anchored and then held her hand out to Kurt. He outstretched his tail and Kitty transferred her power, phasing Kurt's toes into the floor. The two were slightly wobbly, but secure. "Storm!" Kitty shouted, "We have to do something! Jean's unconscious and the Blackbird isn't exactly in perfect condition!"

Wolverine growled, strained from the exertion it took to keep the jet in the air. "We're almost there! Just hold tight and prey we hold together for a few more minutes!"

Scott burst into the fuselage¹, the same, rank-smelling smoke trailing his wake. He coughed a few times. "The engines got hit! They're failing fast!"

"Common, girl!" Wolverine scowled. "Hold together!"

Storm shouted over her shoulder. "Nightcrawler, can you teleport us to the ground?"

Kurt looked anxious. It had been a while since he had transported such a large object –not to mention one with six passengers. "I… I don't know."

"We're almost to the mansion! I can see it ahead, but at this rate, we'll crash before we arrive!"

Kitty grabbed Kurt's hand. "Come on, Fuzzy Elf! I know you can do it! Just believe in yourself!"

In other circumstances, Kurt would have teased his wife for using such a cheesy line, but as it was, now was not the time for jokes and Kitty's words instilled Nightcrawler with confidence. "Alright! I vill try, but I suggest ve prepare for impact just in case!"

With his eyes closed and his tail wrapped around his wife for reassurance, Kurt concentrated. He focused on the X-Jet and the mutants onboard, tracing their outlines and filling in their essences. He stretched his powers to grab hold of the core of what he wanted to teleport and imagined them all safely grounded just outside of the Institute. It was difficult to keep everything in focus and he felt his power flicker occasionally, but eventually he heard the comforting _bamf_ and sulfur mingled with the burning smoke. He peeked under an eyelid to see the mansion trough the hole blasted in the jet. They were grounded safely. The smell of combustion however, persisted.

"You did it, Kurt!" Kitty grinned, attempting to tackle her husband before realizing she was still trapped in the floor. She phased herself out.

"I got us down," Kurt said, "but ze plane is still on fire. Ve need to get out of here."

"Right," Kitty nodded, removing Kurt from the metal. "How's Jean?"

"She's fine," Scott answered. He had Jean in his arms already. "She was knocked unconscious again."

Wolverine left his seat, followed by Storm. "We'll bring her to the sickbay for some rest and a checkup from Hank."

Storm nodded, ushering the younger mutants off the plane and onto the lawn of the mansion. "It wouldn't hurt for all of us to get a once over. Smoke is never a friend to lungs."

**Vhat vill happen to ze team? Vill Kurt be able to ****_bamf_**** dem all or vill zey crash? Vhen vill I be able to stop speaking vith a German accent?**

**REVIEW for answers. **

**But not for the German thing. Unless you find that fascinating for some reason. **

**but all jokes aside, REVIEW and read note above ^^^^**

**1- the body of a plane**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews, but I'm still not getting enough to continue the story. ****_I'm afraid if things don't pick up, this story will stop._**

**Enjoy this [last?] chapter. Unfortunately there is more Scott/Jean than Kurt/Kitty, but it's only 'cause Jean is unconscious. I promise this is a KURTTY-based story and more(?) of the ShadowCrawler couple will continue(?)**

**Read on. IF the next chapter happens, there will be more action. **

Kitty sat beside the sickbed of Jean Summers, clutching her friend's hand as she the redhead slept, casually taking a breath through an oxygen mask nearby every now and then. Doctor McCoy's orders. He said her lungs were minimally damaged from the caustic smoke on the jet but instructed her to take tiny gulps of oxygen as a dehydrated patient would with water.

Laying on a separate bed beside Jean was her husband. Scott was out cold since they got off the Blackbird. Having been in the engine room with the fire, he had inhaled the most fumes. Mr. McCoy assured Kitty and Kurt that he would be fine with some rest, but that didn't stop the latter from 'porting to the kitchen to get his buddy some water. He was taking a while to return with said beverage, but Kitty only thought it reasonable since Kurt's hands and feet had been wrapped in bandages. Turns out fur doesn't protect flesh from getting ripped to shreds by jagged metal. Go figure.

So now Kitty was left alone in the infirmary with an unconscious Jean and a monitoring Hank. Neither of which were great conversationalists. She wished Ororo or Mr. Logan would come back from talking to the professor. At least she could chat with them. However, no one returned within the next half an hour and Kitty was forced to awkwardly watch Doctor McCoy flitter around as he checked, rechecked and double-checked Jean's vitals.

Desperate for _some_ kind of interaction, Kitty tried to strike up another futile discussion. "So… how is she?"

"Fine," came his typical response. "She'll be better after some sleep."

"Oh," Kitty said, letting her head droop. "That's good."

Hank slid her a glance. "Perhaps you could use some rest as well, Miss Pryde. You look exhausted."

"I'm alright," Kitty said, picking up her head. "I think I'll be able to last until tonight. I'm anxious to sleep in my own bed for once- oh! And it's_ Mrs. Wagner_, Doctor McCoy. I got married about half a year ago, remember?"

"So you did. I'm sorry, Kitty, my mind has been somewhat scattered as of late."

"Because of the strange behavior?" she guessed.

"Yes. I'm afraid a friend –that is, an old colleague of mine- has been affected as well. A few nights ago he stole a car and went on a reckless joyride. Unfortunately he accidentally crashed and injured not only himself but a pedestrian as well in the process."

"That's awful! Oh, Mr. McCoy, I'm so sorry! Is he okay?"

"He'd alright. He was hospitalized alongside the pedestrian. However when he awoke, he had no recollection of the hijacking event; a symptom identical to the other victims of this mysterious new mutant."

"Surely you have to have some idea as to who it could be."

Hank frowned. "We did originally believe this to be the work of Mesmero, however he is still in solitary confinement after we recaptured him a few years ago thanks to you and Nightcrawler." Doctor McCoy managed a smile. "You two make quite the team."

"We do, don't we?" Kitty grinned. "So if it isn't Mesmero, who could have such an effect on people?"

Beast slumped. "I don't know. And to be honest, I'm afraid."

Kitty cringed. If Mr. McCoy was scared, then the situation was truly dire.

_Bamf! _Kurt appeared in a puff of sulfur, a cup of water grasped awkwardly in his bandaged hands. "I'm back!" he announced cheerily. He was met with a silent, anxious air. "Vhoa… who died?"

It was then that Scott chose to awake in a fit of coughs. Kurt jumped. "I vasn't serious! Mein Gott! I've jinxed it! I'm so sorry, Scott! Don't die!"

Hank was at Scott's side in a second. He grabbed the younger man's hand and helped him to sit up. "Calm down, Kurt. You're teleportation smoke probably just set him off. He'll settle down in a few seconds."

"Zis is my fault!"

"Relex, buddy," Scott coughed. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, nothing a little O2 won't fix." He eyed the cup in Kurt's hands. "Is that water?"

"Ja! I vent to get you some!" Kurt scrambled to bring his friend the drink and in his haste, tripped over a UV stand. The water was sent flying and –by an extraordinary case of bad luck- splashed Scott square in the face. Hank dashed away to fetch a towel, Kitty could hardly contain her giggles and Kurt was rigid.

Scott's hair clung to his face but only partially hid his warning glower. "Kurt…"

Suddenly a woman's giggles deeper than Kitty's filled the small infirmary. Heads snapped to the bed where Jean lay laughing, her voice cracked and weak. Scott vaulted out of his bed and bolted for his wife. "Jean! How are you feeling?"

"About the same as I always do after losing consciousness," she smiled slightly. "Maybe a little worse due to the smoke and –ack! Scott, you're soaked!" Jean pushed Cyclops away as she wiped away the water Scott had dripped onto her face.

Doctor McCoy returned, dropping the towel onto Scott's head before noticing his patient had awoken. "Jean! Good to see you're awake. Feeling alright?"

"Yes, Hank. Thank you."

"Not a problem, dear," Mr. McCoy said, kindly. "I assume it was the usual that rendered you unconscious?"

Jean's eyes fell to her lap. "Yes. I blacked out again while trying to delve into the mind of a rogue pilot that was firing on us."

Hank nodded. "Logan told me about your flight. You're all lucky to be alive. But these occurrences –attacks if you will- are getting more frequent and regrettably more violent. You could have died." He frowned and folded his arms. "We need to talk to the professor. Waiting is getting us nowhere. We have to act."

"_I completely agree._" The professor said through each of the present mutants' minds. "_If you would all please, we will have a meeting in my office immediately. Hank is right. The time of action is now."_

_**Review if you want this story to continue. If no one reads it, I have better ways of spending my time. **_


	4. Chapter 4

**Long chapter because I'm really nice and I couldn't stop in the middle of the scene. Thanks for the reviews, you earned a chapter. Keep it up to keep me motivated and keep this story going. **

**I will still stop if interest falls through. ****Review if you want the next chapter.**

With seven mutants -two with prominent bulk and one in a wheelchair- crammed into Professor Xavier's small office, there was little elbowroom. Kitty however, was pressed snugly against Kurt's chest so neither she nor her husband were complaining. Wolverine on the other hand, was not so complaisant.

"Can we hurry this up, Chuck?" he grumbled. "The room is getting stuffier by the second."

"Of course," Xavier said in his normally stoic air. "This won't take long, I'm afraid. Unfortunately we only have one link to tie the strange behavioral issues. The things that have been stolen, as well as the incident with the aircraft you just experienced, all had to do with some sort of electronic technology. As we have no leads on the mutant in question, we will have to monitor select electronic companies in pairs with the hopes of encountering him or her."

"But Professor, zhere has to be dozens of electronic companies in town. Zhere aren't enough of us to watch zhem all at once," Kurt pointed out.

"You are correct, Kurt," said the professor. "That is why you are to play the most integral role in this mission. You will have to teleport the different teams from one area to the next in designated shifts. This will maximize our surveillance capability without singling out our recruits and making them vulnerable for attack."

"That's a good plan," Kitty said, "but even with Kurt 'porting everyone around, would we still have enough X-Men to watch every single company? I mean, there's only six of us here- excluding you, Professor."

Xavier nodded understandingly. "We'll enlist some of the other students. I'm sure Spike and Iceman would jump at the chance to, as they say 'see some action', and Rogue will likely join in once she knows you two are back."

"Doubtful," Kitty said, resting her head on her fist and averting her gaze to the ground as her demeanor slumped. "Rogue was happy to see us go. I hardly think she'll welcome us back with open arms."

Xavier smiled. "You may be surprised. She may have missed her brother and best friend more than she lets on."

"Of course she missed us," Kurt smirked. "No one can resist the blue, fuzzy dude."

"I can," grunted Wolverine, his stoic stare cutting through Nightcrawler's cheerful charm. Kurt shied away from Logan as the elder crossed his arms. "So are we going to get down to business or what, Chuck?"

"I'll assemble the others. You six should meet them in the garage. Storm, you'll pair them off. Now I only want you out for a few hours, and if anything goes wrong, regroup. Understood?"

Six voices chorused back before they departed to join up with the others. Kitty was excited to reunite with her friends after two weeks. It wasn't a long time of separation compared to most, but for a social butterfly like Kitty, it felt like an eternity. Kurt was great and all –heck, he was more than great. She married him after all- but he was only interested in one kind of action the last weeks. Shadowcat was thrilled at the aspect of hero-work with her teammates again –even if it was just reconnaissance.

However, the reunion was short-lived, as almost immediately after everyone had gathered in the garage, Storm had them all paired into twos and they were gone before Kitty could say hello. It wasn't all bad though. She had been partnered with Mr. Logan.

The two lingered by a magazine kiosk, flipping through pages of _Vogue_ or _Cycle World_. They kept one eye on the magazines and one on the shop across the road. The light of the neon, "Three Ring Circuits" sign bathed them in a blue glow that turned green as it mixed with the off-yellow streetlamps above.

"What are we even looking for?" Kitty whispered.

Wolverine turned his page, his eye catching on a shiny, black, MV- Augusta F4CC. "Anything suspicious."

Kitty quirked an eyebrow. "And what do you classify as suspicious?"

"Someone who ain't acting right."

Kitty sighed, scanning the street once more before returning her eyes to her magazine. "Well, everything seems to be normal. Kurt should be here soon to bring us to the next store anyway."

"Hold that thought, Half-pint," Wolverine said, closing his copy of _Cycle World_ and setting it roughly on the kiosk. Grabbing Shadowcat's arm, he pulled them both into the shadows of the stand. "Over there," he gestured to the corner of the street with his head. "Wavy, brown-hair, trench coat, late forties. Don't look! Glance from the corner of your eye."

Kitty obeyed, peeking at the corner for the suspect through her peripheral vision. She saw a skittish-looking man darting his head this way and that for witnesses. "I see him. What should we do? Nab him?"

"No," Logan grumbled. "Something's not right."

The man was obvious nervous. He was constantly looking for people on the street as if one of them was a cop that would jump out and haul him off to jail then and there. His right hand was stuffed into his pocket and he seemed to fiddle with something inside. A number of times it looked as if he would take something out, but he always changed his mind and kept it in, resuming his pacing along the sidewalk.

Shadowcat frowned. "What's he doing? Is he actually going to go in?"

"This isn't right," Wolverine mumbled. "Something is off."

The man played with whatever was in his pocket, nearly removing it before putting it back as if he was fighting against himself to bring it out. Eventually he came to a decision and drew a glistening kitchen knife from his coat.

Kitty gasped in horror, "He's armed! We've got to stop him!" and with that she bolted across the street, heading straight for the man.

Too late, Logan snatched at her arms only to miss. "Shadowcat, get back here! Get back here! Kitty, Stop!"

But Kitty didn't listen. She wasn't going to let that man hurt innocent people, and when Kitty Pryde-Wagner had it in her mind to do something, she did it. So without a second thought, she hurled herself at the man in the hopes that the tackle would knock him over and the knife out of his hand. However, in a display of speed counter-intuitive to his physical appearance and age, the man whirled around, the blade of the kitchen knife slicing the flesh of Kitty's torso. She let out a gut-wrenching shriek of pain.

His Half-pint's agonized scream set Wolverine off. Fully extending his claws he lunged at the man with the bloody knife, fully anticipating a gory fight to the death. However, just as he was about to strike, the man's hand went lax and the knife clattered to the concrete. The man followed a second later.

Confused, Logan bent to check his pulse and found a steady thump. What was the man doing? Playing possum?

Suddenly there was a _bamf_ and a puff of smoke surrounded the corner. "Katzchen! Herr Logan! I'm here! You ready to go or vhat?"

Logan coughed as he inhaled Nightcrawler's teleportation fumes. "Shut it, Elf! We got a situation!"

"Kurt?" Kitty asked, her voice uncharacteristically frail.

"Keetty? Vhere are you, meine Katzchen?"

"Here," was all she could croak out before a round of coughing took her over.

The smoke finally dissipated in the air and Wolverine could see Kurt clearly. He had rushed to his wife's side, flittering around her in a marital panic as he measured the extent of her injuries. The most glaring one was a crimson gash stretching across her ribs. That needed to be sorted immediately. "Elf, come here."

Kurt was in a frenzy as he scuttled around the sidewalk, zipping from Wolverine to Kitty and back. "Vhat are ve going to do? Vhat are ve going to do? Don't die Keetty! Don't die! Oh, please don't die! Herr Logan, vhat are ve going to do?"

"Shut yer yap and get over here!" he snapped. Kurt hurried over, his tail between his legs. "Now, help me up."

Kurt thought it a strange command, but offered his hand nonetheless. Wolverine retracted his claws, then grabbed Kurt's sleeve just as Nightcrawler tugged to bring the bulky man to his feet. The result was a loud ripping sound and a German with one less sleeve. "Vhat vas zat for?!"

"Get over it, it's just a sleeve," Logan got to his feet and briskly made his way to the bleeding Kitty. "You want to help Half-pint or not?"

"Ja, of course I do!"

"Then shut up!" Kurt obliged begrudgingly, watching helplessly as Wolverine pressed the torn sleeve to Kitty's wound. "It's not going to help much. We have to get her back to the institute." He scooped Kitty off the ground.

She protested. "I'm okay. Really, Mr. Logan, I can walk. You'll get blood on your uniform."

"You're not fine, Half-pint. Now pipe down and behave." He handed the girl over to Kurt who took her gingerly. "Put pressure on that gash, Elf. She's losing a lot of blood. She can't afford to lose much more."

"Right," Kurt said, wrapping his tail 'round Kitty's waist. "Grab hold of me herr Logan. I'll 'port us back to ze mansion."

"Wait!" Kitty squirmed, tugging her husband's shirt to grab his attention.

"Vhat, katzchen? Vhat's wrong?"

"Over there!" she said, pointing toward an alley down the street. "I saw someone!"

The men exchanged glances. Wolverine brought out his claws once more. "I'll go check it out."

"Who did you see, Keetty?" Kurt asked as they waited for Logan to return.

"I… don't know," Shadowcat said. Her vision was becoming spotted with fuzzy black dots. "It was a man. Pale and blonde…He looked… like a ghost."

"A ghost? Vhat do you mean?"

Wolverine was back, his claws absent. "No one there. Sure you saw someone, Half-pint?"

Kitty felt woozy. "No. I could have… imagined it I suppose."

"Well, only lead we got is this guy then." He bent down and slung the unconscious trench coat-man over his shoulder. "I suggest we take him for interrogation."

"Alright zhen, grab on and ve'll- Keetty? Are you alright?"

The girl had erupted into a violent fit of coughs. "Yeah," she tried to dismiss. "Yeah, I'm… I'm okay."

Logan snarled. "You're not okay. I can smell all your blood." He pulled her hand away from her mouth to find it painted red.

Kitty snatched it back and replaced it as she began another round of coughs. "I'll be fine…I'll…" she felt consciousness slipping away. "I'll…."

"Herr Logan, ve're leaving." Kurt said with finality.

Kitty was in so much pain. Her stomach seared with agony and her throat burned. Her chest was tight as it ached and her mouth tasted like metal. Her head pounded and her vision was failing. Over all, she decided to blame the reappearance of the blonde ghost in the alley on the black dots that conquered her eyes and the loss of blood.

**This was finished at 11:27pm and I'm not going over it right now.****_ I'll reread it tomorrow and fix the little mistakes_****, so don't harp about them.**

**I repeat: REVIEW if you want the STORY to CONTINUE. I have better ways of spending my time than writing a story for an unappreciative audience and/or no audience at all.**


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